$1,000 was donated to the Miles Perret Center as a result of this years competition. For more information on this charity visit their website http://www.milesperretcenter.org/

 

 

 

Stock Mod Overall Winner-
Ryan Milligan Team Automotive Gear

Modified Overall Winners
1st-Scott Edwards LA 4x4
2nd-Allan Evans Contraband Crawlers
3rd-Charles "03 Krawler" LA 4x4

Extreme Overall Winners
1st-Shane Thompson Contraband Crawlers
2nd-Lionel Gauthier LA 4x4
3rd-Blake Leblanc 'Cro Crawlers

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Individual Race Results

Stock Mod Class (Ran on the Modified courses)
Ryan Milligan
RTI- 769
RockCrawl- 33 penalty points and a time of 05:20
Rock Race- Time of 02:40

Modified Class
RTI
1st- Alan Evans, 1204
2nd- Mike Gauthier, 1053
3rd- Charles, 1016
4th- Phil Losh, 979
5th- Scott Edwards, 932
6th- Blake Sloan, 868

RockCrawl
1st- Scott Edwards, 31 penalty points and a time of 03:34
2nd- Alan Evans, 35 penalty points and a time of 22:28
3rd- Charles, 64 penalty points and a time of 09:09
Honorable Mention- Rod Evans, 56 penalty points and a time of 23:12
DNF's-
Mike Gauthier, broken driveshaft, timed out
Blake Sloan, opted out of the downhill section
Phil Losh, failure to launch

Rock Race
1st- Scott Edwards, Time of 02:41
2nd- Charles, Time of 04:10
3rd- Alan Evans, Time of 04:24
4th- Blake Sloan, Time of 06:06
DNF's-
Mike Gauthier- Threw a belt, Timed out
Phil Losh- works on other people's junk rather than maintain his own. (I feel ya, bro.)

Extreme Class
RTI
1st- Shane Thompson, 1294
2nd- Paul Hansen, 1282
3rd- Blake Leblanc, 1243
4th- Bob Heath, 1235
5th- Tom Tyree, 1078
6th- David Grubb, 1014
7th- Lionel Gauthier, 851

RockCrawl
1st- Lionel Gauthier, 41 penalty points and a time of 22:20
2nd- Shane Thompson, 48 penalty points and a time of 24:46
3rd- Blake Leblanc, 56 penalty points and a time of 36:02
4th- David Grubb, 71 penalty points and a time of 39:25
DNF's-
Paul Hansen, voluntary timeout due to engine cooling problems at 25:40
Bob Heath, Broken front ring & pinion at 23:05(I'm bummed I missed this run, heard it was spectacular)
Tom Tyree, Timed out during attempt, kept going and finished course, great show!

Overall Club Champs:
LA4x4

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This event was something else. The intensity of the competitors far exceeded my expectations. You guys made everything worth it.
The effort y'all threw into making it through the obstacles had me yelling and screaming, cheering everybody to make it happen. Not being able to throw a rock or help spot just about killed me. I think I was as exhausted from the adrenalin aftermath as the exertion.

We had 3 out of 7 Modified competitors DNF the Rock Crawl Course.
We had 3 out of 7 Extreme competitors DNF the Rock Crawl Course.
I'm glad to hear noone complaining about courses "not being a big enough challenge".
We will do our best to make sure next year's courses are even worse better.
Core samples will be taken to ensure that no secret underground spring exists.

LA4x4 took the Champions Cup home this year, and is going to have to come defend it next fall. The more competitors you field in different classes, the better your club's chances of taking the cup.

We only had 1 Stock Mod competitor, so he graciously agreed to run with the modifieds on their courses in order to help keep things simple for us. I think he forgot he was supposed to be stock-mod. His rock crawl score would have earned him a 2nd place in modified. His rock race time would have won 1st place in modified by one second. Don't bring Ryan Milligan on a trailride unless you plan on gettin' it, he just may school you.

Our 2nd place Modified Rock Crawl winners were in the middle of their 3rd gate, having just been the only team to cleanly run the course that far, crawling an excellently placed line, when we watched their front tires go pigeon. Waaay pigeon. The tierod was bowed out at least 6 inches, both tires were at pretty much full lock, but pointed in towards each other. Out comes the winch, along with some excellent rigging skills, and some well placed kicks, and they have a working rig again. Alan Evans and his spotter Shane Thompson were able to come back from this and place well enough in the rock race to clinch the 2nd place overall in the modifieds.

Scott Edwards is a stunt driver with no regard for that new car smell. Superfly_03 took first place in the rock crawl, rock race and subsequently 1st overall in the modifeds in a rig that looks looked brand new.

Blake Leblanc took 3rd overall in the Extreme Class. With a HP D30 front axle on 40's. His flyweight Sami buggy found/opened up the spring and showed us where the hardest part of the extreme rock crawl was going to be. His winch and seriously never-say-die driving got him up to the 4' ledge at the top, and he spanked it like it was his baby, setting the bar for the rest of the field, showing them it could be crested w/o a winch.

EVERYBODY winched to get up to that ledge. Watching Shane Thompson's LS1'd 46's throw roosters was one o the best shows I've seen. The cool collected communication between him and his spotter, Andy Vincent, during this melee was something everybody should aspire to.

Cool and collected makes me think of Mike Gauthier. This man had some very hard luck, and you NEVER saw it cross his face. He broke a rear driveshaft on the MOd crawl course, attempts to change it, and finished the repair 30 seconds AFTER he times out. What's he do next? Asks if he can finish the course, and proceeds to drive a downhill section steep enough to stop some competitors from attempting it, IN REVERSE, CLEANLY(I think he may have been the only guy not to hit a cone on that half of the course).
Goes on to compete in the rock race and all you hear is motor after the horn blows, the entire way down the course. This was a long course, probably half a mile, and the sound of his engine screaming had ALL of us pumped up. People were yelling and cheering waaay before he came into view. Right after he passed me, about 3/4 way through the course, he has to pull over and stop in order to save his motor. He had thrown a belt, another DNF for his outstanding effort. I overheard a comment made near him about how that "just sucks" or some similar, Mike's response? "We're here to have a good time, right?" Classy.

Lionel and Phil won the Extreme rock crawl in an XJ with 40's and I believe, a mostly off the shelf suspension kit? Their strategy, communication, and consistancy was enough to point them lower than anyone else. Their comments back and forth had the crowd laughing like they couldn't quit.

And I learned that it is possible to break a ujoint WHILE repairing an axle.

There are so many other moments that come back and make me smile. You all did a great job, and the camaraderie was stronger than I thought possible. I'm sorry if I didn't point you out individually, it's only because I'm tired and my damaged little brain needs rest. I can't wait to see you all again next year.

 

Shell Singleton